Fairfield Warde's Dakota DeJardy leaps to try and avoid the tag out at second by Trumbull's Frank LaPegna, during baseball action against Trumbull in Trumbull, Conn. on Friday June 6, 2014.
Photo: Christian Abraham

TRUMBULL -- Warde pitcher Reece Maniscalco stood along the first-base line, surrounded by reporters, and was handed a wood-carved lightning bolt that was made into a necklace.

The right-hander laughed it off as one of the team's rituals, given to that day's starting pitcher. Win or lose, it's his for the day.

Maniscalco gladly wore it on Friday, as No. 15 Warde continued its Cinderella run with a 5-1 defeat of No. 10 Trumbull in the LL state quarterfinals.

The Mustangs (18-8) plated four first-inning runs, and Maniscalco tossed a complete-game four-hitter, to advance to Tuesday's semifinals. They will face No. 3 Southington (19-3), a LL runner-up in two of the last three seasons, at 3:30 at Muzzy Field in Bristol.

"He's been doing that his last three starts, where he's really stepped up," Warde coach Mark Caron said. "His last three starts have been complete games."

Shutdown performances like Maniscalco's have Warde riding a wave of momentum in the postseason. Last Saturday, southpaw Hunter Hewitt shut out Trumbull over 5 2/3 innings to catapult the Mustangs to their first FCIAC title.

Aside from an early threat, Trumbull didn't muster much offense against the Mustangs.

"He threw a great game," coach Phil Pacelli said of Maniscalco. "Again, I feel like I said this the last time we played these guys: We hit the ball pretty well."

Both pitchers breezed along after a 35-minute first inning, but the game was delayed momentarily in the fifth with Warde up 5-1. A portable set of metal bleachers on which roughly 50 to 60 Warde fans were standing and jumping on collapsed. Three fans were injured, Trumbull police said. The injuries were believed to be minor.

"To see that happen is really unfortunate," Caron said following the game. "I'm hoping that everybody's OK over there."

Several concerned fans ran over to the bleachers, and ambulances arrived minutes later to attend to the injured fans. Coaches and players said they were distracted, but play resumed.

"I think it alarmed (the players), but they knew there was nothing they could do," Caron said. "They knew that there was help coming."

Maniscalco pitched out of trouble the last two innings, inducing a pair of double-play grounders. He struck out four, walked four and hit another batter over seven innings. He survived a bases-loaded jam in the first allowing only one run.

Maniscalco said that Warde's four-run first helped him settle down. Keyes, who was charged with the loss in the FCIAC final as well, allowed eight hits in five innings.

Warde, which fought just to get into the FCIAC playoffs, is suddenly playing with confidence.

The Mustangs don't plan on slowing down anytime soon, either.

"We have enough ability where we can compete with anybody," Caron said.